London, the bustle and brilliance of it is so familiar and yet – thanks to an absence of many months – so alien. I meet friends for breakfast, lunch, dinner (though not all on the same day).
And then, as often happens, I crave chocolate.
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Every time I travel the conversation in my head goes like this: “Pack some chocolate,” to which the same voice always answers, “Nah, have a break or discover something new.”
Sometimes I can’t find anything new or worthy of trying. But in London – in Selfridges no less – I do.
I pick up an optimistically named ‘sharing pack’ of Cox & Co 85% cocoa shards with cocoa nibs, the latter excellent for imparting crunchy chocolateyness with no sugar.
The beauty (and downfall) of shards is that they are pre-fractured, so you dip in and take what comes, someone else having taken all the responsibility from you about how big a piece you should have. But the flipside is that you probably eat more than you’d planned.
I only let one of my testers try it and they weren’t keen (they're more of a milk/dark-milk tester). But I loved these shards. Sharp yet smooth, with those delectable nibs. Something different for the high-cocoa-content fans.
Two other flavours are also available: 100% cocoa and 61% cocoa with bee pollen and honey (it was £5.99 for a 120g bag).
At the till I saw a tiny bar of Dubai chocolate, no bigger than a large-letter postage stamp, and thought, shall I give in and surrender to this ridiculous trend? “How much?" I asked. “£4.99,” the assistant replied, half-apologetic, half-challenging. I passed.